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"Ohio taxpayers could save about $5 million this year as the price the state pays for road salt continues to decrease with the help of regional bidding efforts.The Columbus Dispatch reports that for the second year in a row, the Ohio Department of Transportation has asked salt companies to provide bids for regional transportation districts, instead of just on a county-by-county basis.In previous years, salt companies were required to provide the state with an estimated price per ton of salt for each of Ohio's 88 counties and the lowest bid per county won.Last year, the state gave companies the option to provide bids on the entire transportation districts, which it said has helped to lower the cost of road salt.The statewide average cost this year is $35.83 per ton of salt, down from $40.91 last year. The price was $54.02 per ton in 2011, prior to the bid changes.Ohio's transportation department estimates that it will need more than 425,000 tons of salt this year and that local authorities buying on the contract will seek almost 693,000 tons.Many counties were able to recoup big savings from low snow totals in the winter of 2011-12."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.wlwt.com/article/ohio-taxpayers-could-save-5m-in-road-salt-costs-this-year/3536000>